Waterlogged Venice, Italy Assessing After Near-Record Flooding

A lone person wades through the flooding in Venice, Italy this week.
It was the second highest flood crest on record. Credit: Getty Images

UPDATE:

In the "You Can't Make This Stuff Up department, the Venato Regional Council sort of a county or state government for Venice and environs, got flooded out literally moments after voting against spending money to combat climate change, CNN tells us.

Of course, as I describe below, climate change was only one of many ingredients that caused this massive flood in and around Venice.

But the irony of this story is certainly there.

Says CNN:

"The council chamber in Ferro Fini Palace started to take in water around 10 p.m. local time, as councilors were debating the 2020 regional budget, Democratic Party councilor Andrea Zazoni said in a long Facebook post.

'Ironically, the chamber was flooded two minutes after the majority League Brothers of Italy, and Forza Italia parties rejected our amendments to tackle climate change,' Zazoni, who is deputy chairman of the environment committee said in the post."

The League Brothers party is aligned with the Italian government's far right leadership. The head of the League Brothers for the Venato Regional Council rejected Zazoni's assertions saying the council has spent money on anti-pollution efforts.

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION

As anybody with a hint of awareness about Italy knows, the historic city of Venice is wet and prone to flooding.

Many of us have seen photos over the years of tourists standing knee deep in water or picking their way over makeshift platforms above flood waters.  The city has some flooding at least a couple dozen times a year.

This week's Venice flooding went way beyond that.  You can see video at the bottom of this post.

About 85 percent of Venice was flooded, the worst inundation since the famous storm of 1966, according to the Weather Channel.

The water reached 6.14 feet above normal, just 2.5 inches lower than the historic 1966 flood, the Associated Press reports.

There are fears that St. Mark's Basilica could be damaged, as water flowed through windows and into the crypt beneath, says the Weather Channel.  That might be compromised the historic building's structure, such as the columns that hold St. Mark's up.  The building is made largely of marble, which corrodes easily in salt water.

St. Marks has flooded just six times in its nearly 1,000 year history, but two of those times were in the past two years, says CBS News.

The Associated Press also said the Ca'Pesaro modern art gallery was damaged because water created an electrical short circuit, which started a fire.

Those platforms tourists walked on during high water were taken down because the inundation was so bad those platforms could have washed away.  Shopkeepers traditionally put boards in front of doors to keep water out, but this time the water overtopped those boards, flooding countless businesses and homes.

On the bright side, the AP said that priceless artworks in Venice were unscathed.

"These are the effects of climate change," Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said on Twitter as he surveyed the damage, which he said amounted to hundreds of millions of euros.

He's probably only partly right about climate change.  It could well have influenced this week's flooding, but it's not the only player.

Plenty of things came together to create the destructive Venice flooding.  A full moon made ocean tides higher worldwide.  Strong southerly winds pushed the high tide into Venice. Plus, the city is slowly sinking because of ground water pumping.

And, yes, climate change contributed because sea levels are rising due to the warming. That made the water a little higher than it otherwise would have been.

Venice has been building multi-billion dollar flood barriers for more than a decade, but the project has been plagued by delays, cost overruns and corruption.

Video of the flood from The Guardian:



More footage from the BBC. Note the water flowing into shops and hotels:

Wet Week Here In Vermont, But A Full Flood In Italy

Tornado damage on Fishers Island, New York.
Photo by Matt Edwards

More rain fell on Vermont Monday, as you know. October is turning out to be a rather wet month.

As October closes and November begins, a lot more rain is on the way.

There's been a lot of gloomy, wet weather lately around here, which is bad for a lot of us. But the U.S. Drought Monitor says we still haven't gotten rid of the drought in northern Vermont, so this incessant rain is a good thing, I guess.

Where I live in St. Albans, Vermont, the Drought Monitor says I'm still in drought, but as I dig in the garden, the soil moisture is much better than it was a month ago. Although if I dig down far enough and I occasionally find some dry earth. But we're getting there.

This week will help. Most of us are going to get at least an inch of rain, probably more. Today will be mostly dry but chilly.  There might be a few light showers of rain or snow in the mountains, but that's it.

Shower chances will increase Wednesday as a cold front stalls nearby. Little disturbances and packets of moisture will travel northward along the front, keeping the showers going through Thursday. A final, stronger storm will ride northward along the this front Thursday night and Friday, and that's when most of the rain will fall.

Even though some of us will get up to two inches of rain, rivers and streams are still low enough so that flooding is not anticipated.

That's not to say that areas outside of Vermont won't have rough weather in the coming days. It actually started Monday. New England, which I now half-jokingly call the new "Tornado Alley" had another twister yesterday.

A waterspout came ashore in Woods Hole, Massachusetts as a tornado, causing minor damage. Another relatively weak tornado touched down in North Stonington, Connecticut. Yet another somewhat stronger tornado hit Fishers Island, New York, just off the coast of southeastern Connecticut, damaging buildings and knocking down a bunch of trees.

So far in 2018, New England has had 17 tornadoes. Quite a few for this region, doncha think?

Flooding in Venice, Italy Monday. Photo by Michael
Silvestri/Reuters

This stormy pattern looks destined to unleash some severe thunderstorms and possible tornadoes in Texas tomorrow.  Over the next couple of days, flooding is possible in some spots in a broad stripe from Texas to Pennsylvania.

It looks like an active pattern will continue across much of the nation through mid-November, so expect lots more storminess for awhile.

ITALY FLOOD

High winds and flooding have killed nine people in Italy in the past couple of days, the Associated Press reports. Venice, Italy was about 70 percent flooded by an exceptionally high tide caused by the storm. This was the worst inundation in Venice in a decade.

A marathon was held in Venice and runners had to splash through ankle deep water through parts of the course.

Some Cool Random Videos

A still from a video of a dust devil lifting chairs and
other items off the ground in Alberta recently. 

The weather is pretty quiet this week, so it's time for a few random videos.

In Alberta, Canada recently, a dust devil interrupted a softball game.

It was strong enough to lift chairs, jackets, even batting helmets high into the air. Some of these items dropped some distance away in a residential area when the unusually strong dust devil dissipated.

Nobody was seriously hurt. Here's the video:



It's spring, and that means pollen. It's quite a season in the East, as spring has come on suddenly. My nose is running and pollen is not usually an issue for me. This year it is, a little bit.

In Millvillle, New Jersey, somebody decided to tap a pollen-laden tree with some heavy equipment. Here's the result:



Lake Como, Italy, is probably one of the lovliest places to go in the world, but not on Monday, as this brief video snows. Those big splashes in the lake are giant hailstones coming down:



A tornado hit a Sonic restaurant in Louisiana Sunday. Check out the two cars in the parking lot, especially the one that goes flying. It's hard to see it in the dust and debris, but take a close look in this brief video from a surveillance camera.



Finally, here's a rather sad Vermont video. It shows quite a bit of damage to the Causeway path that juts out into Lake Champlain from Colchester. High winds during the storms Friday combined with rather high lake levels caused a lot of erosion.

Avalanches Kill 100 In Afghanistan, Pakistan

In this photo via the BBC rescuers in Pakistan struggle
through snow to try to reach areas hit by deadly avalanches

This seems to be the winter of tragic avalanches, with news of another such disaster in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

At least 100 people were reported dead in the avalanches, which hit after repeated bouts of heavy snow in the region, especially in the mountainous border area between the two countries, the BBC reported.

Afghanistan disaster ministers said two entire villages were buried beneath the snow slides.

The death toll is likely to rise because relief officials are having trouble getting to the affected area due to snow-blocked roads and continued snowstorms.

That the snow is continuing to fall heavily also means there's a high risk of more avalanches.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, scores of motorists were stranded without food on the Kabul-Kandahar highway because of snow. At least two of those motorists froze to death, says the BBC.

The main airport in Kabul was also closed by snow.

The avalanche disaster in Afghanistan and Pakistan comes less than a month after an avalanche slammed into an Italian mountain resort. That disaster killed 29 people, though 11 others were pulled alive from the snow-shattered hotel.

On Saturday, seven skiers in the Italian Alps went missing after an avalanche struck them. They were initially feared dead, but rescuers found them alive.

Fatal Italy Avalanche Part Of A Current Brutal European Weather Pattern

In the lobby of the avalanche-destroyed hotel in Italy
a wall of snow and debris is seen pressing into the building
on the left.  

We awoke to the sad news today that a giant avalanche smashed into a resort luxury hotel in Italy, which is likely to have claimed 30 lives.

The avalanche came after incredibly heavy snows hit the mountainous Abruzzo region of central Italy in recent days.

The area has also been hit by swarms of earthquakes in recent months. More earthquakes Wednesday apparently sent the deep snow hurtling down mountainsides.

Incredibly severe weather also hampered rescue operations. Drifts were reported to be 16 feet deep, and it took many hours for rescuers to reach the hotel through blizzard conditions.

Some of the avalanche victims might have survived the snow slide, but froze to death awaiting rescue.

Plus, some of the guests might have already left before the slide hit because they had checked out. However, they were still there when the avalanche hit, waiting at the hotel for crews to clear snow-blocked roads so they could leave, Reuters reported.

The Italy avalanche tragedy is the worst part of a brutal weather pattern that is causing misery in much of central and eastern Europe.

Another huge concern is the refugee crisis in the region combined with the harsh winter conditions.

Snow and freezing cold have hit normally temperate areas of southern Italy, Greece and Turkey.

Even before the latest blast of frigid weather hit this week, at least five refugees had died as of last week from the cold and many others suffered from frostbite and hypothermia, The Guardian reported.

Some refugees in Greece have been moved to warmer buildings, but many others in Greece and elsewhere are stuck in flimsy tents, unprotected from the cold.  

Refugees in Belgrade, Serbia try to wash clothes
and themselves in hard winter conditons over
barrels filled with water and heated from below
with scraps of wood. Photo via Getty Images

In Serbia, women and children are mostly in warm shelters, but up to 1,200 men and unaccompanied boys are outdoors, unprotected as temperatures plunge into the single digits Fahrenheit.

Some countries, and people, are hostile to the refugees, and there are reports of police confiscating clothes and mobile phones from them, preventing them from calling for help or staying warm in the horrible weather.

This is beyond cruel. So-called humans have quite a capacity to destroy others, don't they?

No real relief is in sight as renewed cold and snow are due through the weekend in Greece, Italy, Turkey and the Baltic nations

Italy Floods; Tokyo Snows

Kiosks and lamposts are inundated during massive
flooding in Turin, Italy over the past few days  

Two extreme weather events slammed a couple locations around the world over the weekend.

The worst was an epic flood in Italy. The other was one of the earliest snows on record in Tokyo.

In Italy, torrential rains from a large, wet, slow moving storm caused incredible flooding, especially in the northwestern part of the nation.  

At least two people are reported dead, and thousands have been evacuated. The hardest hit area is in the Po River basin, including the city of Turin.

Most bridges in Turin were closed for safety reasons, and tourist boats were ripped from moorings and slammed into bridge abutments, the Weather Channel said. 

Video of the Italy flooding is at the bottom of this post.

Snow fell in November in Tokyo for the first time in
54 years. Photo by Shizou Kambayishi/AP

In Tokyo, snow fell in November for the first time in 54 years, numerous media outlets, including the Guardian reported. 

The snow didn't pile up much, but it did cause a stir in the megalopolis. It was the first time on record that snow actually accumulated on the ground in Tokyo in November.

Tokyo is a relatively warm city that averages only four inches of snow a year. Usually, that snow falls in January or Februrary. But a strong cold front from northeast Asia dropped temperatures to as much as 20 degrees below normal.

Temperatures are still a bit below normal in Tokyo, but are now much closer to normal.

Here's a video of the terrible flooding in Italy:

Rare Tornado Kills Two Near Rome, Italy

A large tornado north of Rome, Italy Sunday.

A fairly rare, but powerful tornado swept through areas of Italy near Rome Sunday, killing two people, according to media reports.

A 25 year old man died when a cornice fell off a building during the tornado in Ladispoli, north of Rome, killing him. A 74 year old man died when a tree fell on him.

Video of the tornado, which you can see below, shows a wide, wedged shaped tornado, the kind that often tend to be particularly strong.

There was widespread damage to buildings, cars and trees north of Rome.

Damaging tornadoes occasionally strike Italy, so it's not unheard of to have something like this. But it's still relatively rare, especially in cases like this one where there were unfortunately fatalities.

Here's a video of the Italy tornado and its destructive aftermath Sunday:

Baseball Sized Hail While Out Boating In Italy

One of the gigantic hailstones that crashed down
on the Naples, Italy area the other day.  

Now THIS is scary. In the video below, fisherman were out on a boat near Naples, Italy, when a severe thunderstorm moved in.

Watch them struggle amid baseball sized hail.

The storm dumped the large hail on areas near Naples, causing lots of damage to cars and buildings.

There were no reports of serious injuries. Even the people on the boat in the video below were not badly hurt.

Which is a miracle as you'll see if you watch the video:

Videos: Summer Storms Are Scary! Watch These For Proof

Aftermath of August 2 Traverse City, Michigan
storm. Video of it is below. Add caption

A few videos I came across this week show how scary heavy rain and severe storms can get in a big hurry.

We go to Yemen, Italy and Michigan to show what a summer storm can do in just a few minutes.

The first one shows serious flooding in Yemen recently, and a young boy got caught in it.

As he was being swept away, the video will show what happened next. Spoiler: It's scary, but ends well.



Next, we go to Italy, for this flash flood that hit in the past week.  The images in the first half of the video are by far the most interesting:



Finally we go to Traverse City, Michigan on August 2, where an incredible storm caused widespread damage in the northern part of that state.

Here, the storm goes on and on, dismantling the trees in a forested neighborhood in Traverse City. It's a wonder the guy and his house weren't completely smushed. By the way, foul language alert in the video, but you'll understand why:

Italy Gets A Big Scary Tornado, Kind Of LIke Oklahoma Does

When you think of a very large, very destructive tornado, you think about one of these storms wiping out a town in, say, Oklahoma, Iowa or South Dakota or something.

But tornadoes happen elsewhere in the world, too. Most of those are fairly weak, but every once in a while, there is unfortunately a blockbuster tornado.

Deadly tornado approaches a suburb of Venice,
Italy this week.  n

Such was the case near Venice, Italy this week. This was an EF3 tornado that swept through a heavily populated areas. EF3s pack winds of between 136 and 165 mph,  so such a tornado hitting a town is pretty much a worst case scenario.

In the Italy tornado, which hit suburbs just west of Venice, at least one person was killed, dozens injured and many buildings left in ruins, says the Independent UK

The one aspect of the tornado that has really lit up social media is the video taken from inside a car that was way, way too close to the twister.

Damage from yesterday's tornado near Venice, Italy.  n

I don't know why, in the beginning of the video while the occupants of the car were still out of harm's way, they kept driving toward what was obviously a large, destructive tornado.

As the car gets close to the tornado, it gets pelted with debris, and the people were extremely lucky one of those big pieces of sheet metal didn't shred them to pieces.  

It looks like the tornado changed course as they were trying to get away from it. If they were chasing the tornado, the tornado ended up chasing them.

Here is that video:

If You Thought New England Snow Was Bad, Try Eight Feet In One Day In Italy

Clearing more than eight feet of snow in
Capracotta, Italy last week. How
would you like to shovel that?  

It's going to snow in New England again this weekend.

Yay! As if the region needs it.

The heaviest snow will come down in the higher elevations of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, where anywhere from four to 10 inches could accumulate.

In the valleys, and in southern New England, the storm will start off Saturday with a cold rain, possibly mixed with sleet or freezing rain for a couple hours at the onset. It'll gradually change to snow Saturday night.

Boston needs a little less than two inches of snow to break its all time record for snowiest winter, but I don't think it's going to do it with this storm. It's possible enough snow could fall there Sunday, but it is iffy.

The National Weather Service in Burlington, Vermont is considering putting up winter weather advisories for the mid and high elevations of the state Saturday night and Sunday.

The National Weather Service in Caribou, Maine might be tempted to hoist winter storm watches for part of that state later today to go into effect over the weekend.

If you're in New England and can't stand the thought of more snow, it could be worse.

Last week, an Italian town called Capracotta reported received nearly eight and a half feet of new snow in just 18 hours or so.

If that's true, it would break the world's record for the most snow within 24 hours. The current generally accepted world's record is 90.6 inches in a day on Mount Ibuki, Japan on February 14, 1927.

The United States record for 24-hour snow is 76 inches at Silver Lake, Colorado in April, 1921.

The Capracotta snow measurements will have to be verified for accuracy, probably by the World Meteorological Organization. 

As the Washington Post Capital Weather Gang notes, we may never really know if this weeks Capracotta snow is the world record.

It's hard to measure snow, as it drifts, compacts and melts. Also, different nations have different standards on how to measure snow. Do you wait until the storm ends, then measure it? Or do you have, as we do in the United States, guidelines that have you measure an area every six hours, wipe it clean and start over, until you geta storm total?

With the different ways of measuring, you get different amounts of snow compaction, so it's hard to say really how much fell.

One thing I can say for sure. Nobody in New England will get eight feet of new snow this weekend

That, my friends, is a promise.

Below is a video slide show of the scene in Capracotta this week:

Another Terrible Flood Has Hit Italy. Dramatic Video

Cars were stacked atop one another
after an extreme flash flood
in Genoa, Italy this week.  

Severe flooding hit parts of Italy this week, with the area around Genoa in the northwestern part of the country hardest hit.

According to Reuters, one person was swept away and drowned as a muddy flash flood blasted through the medieval port city.

This is the second time in three years Genoa has had such a terrible flood.

The 2011 flood killed seven people. The flood also proved the point that if you get one disaster, the time to prepare for the next one is right away.

In the lastest flood, the mayor of Genoa said Italian weather forecasters had said there would be heavy rain, but didn't warn them of an impending major flood.

You can see dramatic videos of the disaster at the bottom of this post.

According to Reuters, the heavy rain wasn't solely to blame for the floods. Poor building decisions and bureacracy worsened things:

"Italy's national council of geologists which warned of looming problems in the fragile area around the city in a statement in January, was heavily critical, saying little had been done since the disastrous 2011 floods.

'It's a mass of problems together. You have houses built in the wrong places, inadequatre water channeling systems, poor planning and administration,' Carol Malgarotto president of the council in the region of Liguria, told Reuters."

About $44 million had been earmarked to reinforce flood defenses, but the spending has been blocked by legal disputes.

All this proves that if a natural disaster shows that things need to be improved, bolstered, fixed or moved so tragedy doesn't happen again, you ought to do it as quickly as possible. You never know when the next one will hit.

Yeah, it might be 100 years from now. But then again, it could be tomorrow.

Here's one scary video from the Genoa flood:




Here's another video of Genoa

Dramatic Italy Tornado Video Shows Why Being Near Windows During A Tornado Is A Bad Idea

The United States isn't the only place beset by destructive tornadoes lately.

Right before the windows broke during an Italian
tornado this week.  

One tore through Italy this week, and hit an office building as a worker filmed the twister.

He and other workers got away from the windows at the last second, sparing themselves some serious injuries.

Yes, folks. Stay away from windows during a tornado.

Still, the footage is dramatic. Watch: